Surface covering and process of ornamenting the same



Sept. 20, 1927. 2,954

C. F. HUMPHREYSJET AL SURFACE COVERING AND PROCESS OF ORNAME'NTING THE SAME Filed Jan. 22, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l C. F. HUMPHREYS ET AL SURFACE COVERING AND PROCESS OF CRNAMENTING THE SAME Sept. 20, 1927.

Filed Jan 22, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 16 .57 1 r A /J M //1 J5. FIG-.5.

4 v 144. 54 1,7 14 ag w /7/%// 12% m 15 ,FJG.5.

' INVENTORS cw flu/ r "Patented- Sept. 20, 1927.

UNITED :STATES PA-TENT OFFICE.

CnARLEs r.- numrEEEYs Nn JOHN C. mdCAn'rnY, or LANCAsrEn, rENNsY vANIA, ASSIGNORS 'ro Amus'rnoNG CORK COMPANY, or LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA, A

I conronA'rroN'er PENNSYLVANIA.

fiuarecl" GOiT EBINQ-AND .rnoCEss or on NAMEN'rINe THE SAHE.

Application t med iam'm 22, 1927. Serial No.'162,80.'

The ,present' invention relates to surface coverings and process of .ornamenting the same, especially to ornamentation of printed,

flexible, hard-surfaced floor coverings, by depressing certain of the printed colors so as to bring the color pattern into relief.

The invention is shown asiembodied in a so-called imitation handcraft tile floor covering of the type disclosed in the Humphreys L mipatents,Reissue No; 16,510, reissued,Decem-.

berv 28, 1926, and Reissue No; 16,47 3, reissued November 16, 1926;

- As.disclosed inthe' said Humphreys pat-v cpvermg, 'such'as ents, a'hard-surfaced flbopn lino1eum,, has itssurfa e-formed'with tilelike spaces which 'diifer'in color haphazardly so as to simulate the haphazard arrangement of ceramic ti ling,'- forming what is known as a handcraft tile pattern linoleum. v The-flexible hard-surfaced floor covering, which comprise linoleum and felt base goods, customarily and particularlyin the felt base goods" and the cheaper grades of linoleum, have a color pattern printedon the surface of 26 the goods. This is-done by. printing ma-,

chines in which printing blocks lay on the various'colorslin oil paints.

In order to bring out this printed color pattern, we depress certain colors and, leave so certain colors undepressed. In forming a.

printed fioor covering simulating a tile pattern; weprint on the covering certain spaces hich are colored to imitate tiling, and between these spaces, other elongated colored s aces, to"imitate the mortar joints between a "t e tiles. f To bring this colored pattern into relief andstill further simulate the appearance of tiling, the colored spaces which, simulate the mortar joints are depressed below .40 the level of the spaces which simulate the tiles.-v

.-- While'theQpresent invention is illustrated and'specifically described as applied to the flexible hard-surfaced floorcovering having a handcraft tile pattern printedflthereon, it is to be understood thatiitfmayibe' embodied in flexible hardsurfaced floor-coverings having other patterns" v The. claims iin'this application are directed to flexible hard-surfaced floor" coverings generically, and to a linoleum floor covering specifically. Claims directed to felt base floor coverings specifically are presente ornamentation; of a in our copending application Serial'No. 20 ,509, filed- July 18, 1927,, ible subject matter.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 isa plan view of a pieceof hand: craft tile pattern floor covering embodying our lnvention;

Figure 2 is a plan view of a piece of the material before embossing;

upon such divis- Figure 3 is asection along'the line III- III of Figure 2; Figure 4 is:a plan view of a small piece of material after embossing; and

Figure 5 is a section along the line V'V of Figure 4.

Referring to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, reference numerall indicates a piece of flexible hardsurfaced floor covering, such as linoleum, having a handcraft tile surface ornamentation. As described in said Hum hreys Reissue Patents Nos. 16,510 and 16,493, the surface is formed for a number of tile-like spaces or units, the different colors being haphazardly arranged to simulate handcraft tiling. Y

As shown in the drawings, three kinds of horizontal lines; the units 3 are alikein color, as lndicated by diagonal lines; and the units 4 are alike in color, as indicated by color; although, if desired, tile-like units of difierent primary colors maybe employed, in case a striking decorative effect is desired.

color units are employed to imitate the tile. The units 2 are alike in color, as indicated by In referrin to the colors as var colors we mean either different colors or different shades of the same color. I i

As further describedin said Humphreys reissues the varyingly colored tiles arear ranged haphazardly over the area-along the strip of linoleum between the points 'A and B in Figure 1. The pattern thus formed is repeated by the printing operation over successive areas along the strip of .the floor covering. The repeat is, of course, necessary because of the machine printing of the floor d covering. The area which is shown in Figure 1 as being the width of the strip of floor covering and in length from A to B, which is repeated in making the floor covering, should be of a sufiicient size so that the repeat is not readily apparent to the eye. The minimum size of such repeat areas varies with the size, arrangement and varying colors of the tile-like units. In general, the smaller the individual tile-like units, the smaller the areas over which the arrangement is repeated, and the larger the units and the more striking their appearance, the largerthe areas necessary in order that the repeat will not be readily apparent to the eye.

As shown in Figure 1, and described particularly in the Humphrey's Reissue, No. 16,473, there are preferably units of striking decorative appearance, indicated by reference numerals 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, interspersed in an apparently haphazard manner to still further simulate hand tiling. These interspersed units are usually of some design differing strikingly in color from the plain tile from which the remainder of the pattern is made.

In order to further simulate the appearance of handlaid tiling and to obtain an improved artistic eli'ect, we separate the tilelike spaces by printed colored spaces or interliners 13 which imitate the mortar joints between the tiles. The color of the spaces 13 should differ from the color of the tile-like spaces 2, 3 and 4, as the color of mortar varies from the color of ceramic tiling. The variation in color may be that of a different primary color, as for example a black mortar with three shades of red tiling, or the mortar may be of a different shade of the same general color as the tiling.

The printed spaces 13 which simulate the mortar joints are sunk or depressed into shallow grooves 14, as shown in Figures t and 5, to simulate the depressed mortar joints occurring in ceramic tiling. T he depressed grooves or recesses are relatively shallow, being usually about 1 32 to 3/(Sst of an inch in depth and with a. width corresponding to the width of the colored space which is depressed. The groove preferably has a smooth contour, that is to say, a cross sect-ion, as shown in Figure 5, does not present sharp angles or corners, in order to prevent the retention of dirt and allow of easy cleaning. The depressed mortar joints bring the tile pattern into relief. 'They causea much better simulation of laid ceramic tiling than plane surface tile pattern floor coverings. The depressions make the colored patterns stand out strikingly. They also break up the smooth light-reflecting surface afforded by a smooth printed floor covering surface. In looking across the room toward a window, the colored pattern of a plane surface floor covering may be lost in the reflected light, whereas, the same pattern,'if brought into relief as herein described, is distinctly visible under the same conditions. The number of varying colors printed on the floor coverings is, of course, limited because of the number of printing heads in the floor covering print-' ing machine. However, by employing a limited number of varying colors for the tile and another color or shade for the inortar joints, with. the tile arranged with a studied haphazard ap earance, the artistic effect ofhand-laid ti ing may be secured with the limitations of mechanical printing reproduction, and particularly as the depressed mortar joints give the appearance of the texture of hand-laid tiling.

The printed linoleum or similar flexible hard-surfaced floor covering may be used where hand-laid ceramic tiling would be too expensive or impracticable, They are warm and resilient to the foot and can be laid on any kind of floor. Moreover, they bring a floor covering having the surface appearance of the artistic but expensive hand-laid tiling, into the home of moderate income.

The color pattern which is brought into relief by the surface depressions is formed by color printing over the entire surface of the flexible hardsurfaced floor covering. The colors which are printed on the undepressed portions of the floor covering are brought out strikingly by their PIOIIIIIIGIIU position, as contrasted with the color or colors which occur in the depressed portions. In decorating the flexible-hard-surfaced floor coverings, as herein described, the colors may be printed on the surface either before or after the depressions are formed therein. It is preferred, however, to print the colors, preferably with a quick drying paint, prior to the formation of the depressions. In making a printed embossed pattern linoleum, the linoleum can best be embossed in an uncured condition To cure linoleum, it is passed into stoves in which the oxidizing of the linseed oil binder takes place. If the color pattern be printed on an uncured linoleum witha slow drying paint,

ures2 to 5. The sheet of li noleum 1, which is formed in the'usualway with theusual imitation tile color pattern shown-in Figure 2. .The smooth surface material as thus formed is shown in Figures 2 and 3. This I grooves 14.

' imitating the mortar joints 13 preferably" is therefore not limited to its illustrated em bodiment, but may be otherwise embodied within the scope .of the following 'claims.

printed material is then put" beneath an embossing plate or roller which has ribs which indent the printed spaces '13 into As shown -in thedrawings, the entire-color bodily depressed, so that the nar 'nal lines 'of the depressions orsgroove's su stantially coincide with the linesof juncture between the printed spaces. By thushayin'g va'cer tam. color or colors bodily depressed, the

colors which are printed on- {the nude; pressed portions stand out strikingly by con' trast. "By having the marginal lines ofthe depressed portions substantially coincidingwith the lines of juncturebetweenthejcolorsy I *rence so. as to simulate the haphazard apthe whole color pattern is brought into sharp relief. If desired, however, the linoleum may first have the desired configuration depressed on its surface, and the color patterns may then be printed onfjthe surface, in which case, however, sp'ecialfprecautions have tobe taken in order to get the color evenly into the depressed portions. In.

the printing of felt base goods, the goods may be printed either before or after embossing, although itis preferable to print first and emboss afterwards, especially since the felt base goods would permanently. re-f main more plastic than a linoleum. The asphaltum-impregnatedfelt will yield-under the impress of anembossing plate, even af- -ter the goods are printed withan oil paintand the paint dried.

It is preferred toprint the floor covering I and thereafter to do the, embossing with a ribbed embossing plate because by suitably varying the feed of the floor. covering to the embossin plate,-an accurate matching of the embossing ribs with the printed spaces to be depressedcan be achieved. Moreover the embossing has some tendency to stretch and distort the goods. The printing first and the embossing thereafter does away with any inaccuracy of matching between the embossing and the printing which might take place if the goods were 'first subjected to the embossing operation and should become somewhat stretched thereby.

While it is preferred to 'emboss entire printed color spaces. as for example, to depress the entire color space, imitating the mortar joints on a tile pattern flpor covering, the embossing might be otherwise done,

as for example, a tile pattern jflbor coverin' might be made without tlieifsnnulation o mortar joints, but having the llnes'oi juncm a handcraft tile 1 ,stead ofhaving hazardly varying colors, the tiles may all be printed of the same color. Also floral or ot her colored figured hard-surfaced floor coverings may have their printed color patterns'brought into relief by depressing certain colors of the pattermleaving other colors standing undepressed. The inventionlVe claim:

- 1. .The process of ornamentin the sure face of a flexible hard-surfaced oorcovening, which comprises printing ,on its surface a seriesof tile like' spaces having alimited number of varying; colors arranged in a pattern with irregularity of occurpearance of hand-laid tiling, and printing between such tile-like spaces elongated spaces colored to simulate mortar joints, and depressingsaid elongatedspaces to simulate t e depressed mortar joints ofhandlaid tiling. K I

f2. The process of ornamentin the surface ofja' flexiblehard-surfaced oor covering, which comprises printing a color pattern von its surface and thereafter bodily indenting certain of the colors of said pat:

tem to bring thepa ttern into relief.

3. The process of ornamenting the surface of a linoleum floor covering, which comprisesprinting Ia color .pattern on its surface, embossing I the color pattern, I and thereafter curing the linoleum. I

v4:. A flexible hard-surfaced floor 'coverin having'a color. pattern printed on its surface andhaving the configuration of the pattern'embossedso as to bring-it into relief.

5. A flexible hard-surfaced floor covering having its surface printed with aseries of tile-like colored spaces having a limited number of varying colors'arranged in a pat- 11 tern with irregularity "of occurrence so as to simulate thehaphazard appearance of handlaidtiIing, and separated by printed elongated .spaces colored to simulate mortar joints, and having the elongatedspaces de- .pressed to simulate the depressed mortar joints of hand-laid tiling. I II 6. A flexible hard-surfaced floor covering having its surface printed with a series of tile-like spaces having a limited number of varying colors arranged in a pattern with irregularity of occurrence so as to simulate the haphazard appearance of hand-laid tiling, certain'of'said spaces being replaced by printed tile-like spacesof strikingly X different decorative appearance, said tilelike spaces being separated by printed elongated spaces colored to simulatemortar joints and having said elongated spaces depressed to simulate the depressed oints of hand-laid tiling.

7. A flexible hard-surfaced floor covering having printed thereon a color pattern simulating tiling and brought into relief by having the joints between the tiles depressed below the tiles.

8. A flexible hard-surfaced floor covering having printed thereon a pattern simulating tile separated by mortar jointsand brought into relief by having the mortar joints depressed below the tile.

9. A. flexible hard-surfaced floor covering having its entire surface printed with a patterm and brought into relief by having certain colored portions thereof depressed leaving other colored portions standing in recesses substantially coinciding with the lines of juncture between the colors.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands.

CHARLES F. HUMPHREYS. JOHN G. MCCARTHY. 

